It is known generally in the background art to use the physical behavior model of a system combined from springs and damps. This behavior model is well known and has bee under use in the field of computer 3D graphics and 3D animation of non-rigid objects since the late 1980's.
However, such a model has not been applied to a system in which a complex physical model is constructed and also complex physical interactions must be represented. One example of such a system is the simulation of a medical procedure on a body organ, particularly a surgical procedure. Surgical procedures involve the, manipulation of tools and of organs, and physical interactions between these two relatively complicated types of physical models.
One example of such a surgical procedure is laparoscopy surgery. Laparoscopy is a procedure that permits visual examination of the abdominal cavity with an optical instrument called a laparoscopic, which is inserted through a small incision made in the abdominal wall. The laparoscopic system includes monitor, camera and video, insufflators for CO2, laparoscope and instruments.
The fiber optics also carry light into the abdomen from a special light source. This system allows the surgeon to see and operate within the abdomen.
The procedure is usually performed under general anesthesia After anesthesia is begun, 3-4 small incisions (called port sites) are made on the abdominal wall. A Veress needle is inserted into the abdomen to inflate the abdomen with CO2. This distends the abdomen and creates space to insert the trocars for the laparoscope and the instruments.
The laparoscope and instruments with long handles are inserted through the trocars into the abdomen The entire operation is then performed while viewing the organs magnified on a television screen.
Such an operation is clearly difficult to simulate, given the relatively large number of different types of interactions and physical models which must be simultaneously handled in real time.